'Life of Riley'(BBC1) follows in the trail of 'Outnumbered' and other domestic, suburban, half-hour long, nuclear/step-family sit-coms.Of course, family life is mostly a round of domesticities, laundry baskets, dinners and humour but the tv portrayals of the family tend to concentrate on the first three items and are slim on the last. Caroline Quentin ('Men Behaving Badly') as the mother/wife 'Maddy Riley' is a fine comic actress and Neil Dudgeon ('A Touch of Frost', 'Midsomer Murders') plays a daft Dad deftly. You won't die laughing but you will smile; 'Life of Riley' never challenges the genre, preferring the comfort of a traditional sit-com structure. There's some good studio audience chuckles coming from intra-generational generated laughs. (Dad is rubbish with new technology, Mum unsuccessfully tries to use her kids argot). Sunday afternoon fare that has 'thetvreviewguy' thinking he could write this kind of stuff if he really wanted to and maybe he should. In the meantime, he'll have to be happy with a lot of mildly-amusing comedy shows and unearthing a few gems here and there. 'Life of Riley' is passable, and in someways, ideal viewing for overcast weather days. If it gets stressed-out parents some peace for a while then that makes it even better.
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